The world’s wealthiest countries today promote development abroad in a way that is relatively new. For centuries, some of these countries colonized the developing world. As former colonies gained independence they were caught in the international power struggle of the Cold War, often led by dictators who found it in their interest to serve as pawns in great power proxy conflicts. A serious attention to development occurred mainly after the end of the Cold War. The focus sharpened in the early 2000s, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 drove home the realization that state failure thousands of miles away can have serious repercussions at home. Promoting development became a matter of self-interest for wealthy states.

The self-interest of developed countries affected policy on foreign aid, trade agreements, and even climate finance, as I argue in my new book, Targeted Development. The focus on development as self-interest did not usher in, as Prime Minister Tony Blair would have us believe, an era of enlightened self-interest where “idealism becomes realpolitik.” Instead, development is promoted disproportionately when and where it serves the interests of wealthy countries. This will likely aid development in targeted states, but a widening gap will emerge as those not targeted are left further behind.

Giving Compass' Take:
• The author shares insights into how funders can alter their behaviors to orient grantees toward the Sustainable Development Goals and scale solutions.
• How will focusing on the grantee/grantmakers relationship help with scaling impact?
• Read about strategies for scaling up social programs for nonprofits.
Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems, seeks to offer some concrete recommendations and catalyze a conversation about how to change the SDG industry with an eye toward scale.
The report outlined five key ways that funders could change their behaviors:
1. Shift the power dynamics. Funders tend to have significantly more power in these relationships, which can put pressure on grantees to conform to foundation priorities and limit their ability to do systems-oriented change. Foundations need to be more cognizant of power dynamics and look to adopt practices that provide grantees with more flexibility to determine their own needs.
2. Look beyond financial support. If funders and grantees have strong relationships built on trust, they can have ongoing conversations that allow foundations to better understand needs and help identify and provide nonmonetary support.
3. Build a knowledge base. Systems change requires big thinking and identifying all the relevant actors within a system. Foundations can both help map those systems and connect grantees with other actors within the system.
4. Work together to ease the burden. Funders should collaborate more often to share insights and information about grantees and consider establishing joint assessment and due diligence processes to limit the burden on grantees.
5. Change the way they give. Perhaps most critically, the report says, foundations have to change the way they give money. If the goal is systemic change, restrictive one-year grant cycles are not the way to achieve big goals.
Read the full article about how foundations can scale solutions by Adva Saldinger at Devex

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